The Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Step Back as Senior Royals: January 2020

[Alison H]

Moving abroad is a complicated thing, whoever you are. It can't all be sorted in one afternoon, by people who are not legal and financial experts.


The "my family" rather than "the Royal Family" was very telling, and the comment about wishing they'd stayed as full time working royals was as well.


There is widespread sympathy for the Queen and Prince Philip. I don't know how much of what the papers say to believe, but they're reporting that Prince Philip is bedridden for much of the time now. I don't think he was physically up to dealing with this. All the more reason why Harry should have visited him over Christmas.

[Nico]

On a side note the statement underline the importance for the Queen to be a "full-time working member of the BRF".
To keep in mind for the honors thread, the RFO etc ...

[yvr girl]

They just read a statement on the CBC from the minister in charge of immigration that there are no special provisions for members of the royal family to gain Canadian citizenship, they would need to apply through regular means; however, as members of the Royal Family they do not need permission to visit.

I see them getting something akin to permanent visitor status.

[Helen.CH]

Originally Posted by Betsypaige

Under the best of circumstances you never know when the last time you'll ever see someone...HM and Philip are 93 and 98 respectively. If Harry doesn't spend enough time with them (this is why I was so upset that he skipped Christmas with the BRF), he WILL regret it .....when it's too late to do anything. Regret is a terrible thing to live with.

**Charles is not young, either - I believe Harry needs to spend as much time with him as possible as well.

I cannot see this. Death is the risk if life, and in any other family with elderly some will not be able to stick with them any time left, that is a normal process. society is far away from what is was or could be. any working commoner can't spend days or weeks with their grandparents so why should Harry feel obliged to?
And the elderly still have themselves and in case of HM a job to do, so why should she choose to spend hr free time with exactly one, Harry, grandson-absurd idea.

[BaiSoSo]

Originally Posted by yvr girl

They just read a statement on the CBC from the minister in charge of immigration that there are no special provisions for members of the royal family to gain Canadian citizenship, they would need to apply through regular means; however, as members of the Royal Family they do not need permission to visit.

I see them getting something akin to permanent visitor status.

Who said anything about Canadian citizenship??

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by yvr girl

They just read a statement on the CBC from the minister in charge of immigration that there are no special provisions for members of the royal family to gain Canadian citizenship, they would need to apply through regular means; however, as members of the Royal Family they do not need permission to visit.

I see them getting something akin to permanent visitor status.

They do not need permission "to visit", but visiting is very different from being a permanent resident. Could a "permanent visitor" work for example or run a business ? Maybe Canada is just an interim solution after all as the statement may suggest.

[ACO]

Honestly the whole statement reads to me as a sad grandmother who understands a member of her family needs space and time away to figure out his life. So she granted it.

I also notice the language that in a way leaves the door open. They might slam it shut themselves but I don't think they will be denied. This probably is for the best. They clearly were not forced out but also felt they needed to step down and away for their own sanity.

So now the transition will happen.

[Fijiro]

This is a good article to read.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article...ybrkr=7992c02e

[Princess]

It would have been so easy to step back by officially announcing that the BRF needs to be slimmed down. Everything could have been worked out and everybody would have been happy for Harry as everyone knows he always struggeld with his role.

Why on earth did they choose this way? It's a mystery to me.

[Nico]

Originally Posted by Helen.CH

What did Princess Michael do, except wearing that broche which I understood as a nice gesture. ???

This "Broochgate" was just ridiculous and underlined the defiance from some part of the public toward the Windsors : they just waited for any sign screaming racism.
I think Princess Michael was not intentionally racist by wearing this brooch, she was just indifferent to Meghan, wich is maybe worse for her die hard fans.

[Sionevar]

I have no problem if Harry and Meghan want to come live in Canada - all I ask is that they follow the proper procedure. No special treatment, no queue jumping, and if they apply for Permanent Residence, they must meet the points requirement.

For ordinary people, it is a long and tedious process to obtain Canadian permanent residence or citizenship. It used to be relatively quick, but I understand the process has bogged down due to budget cuts and volume, and now takes several years.

As someone who has gone through both the PR and citizenship processes, and who had to wait for what felt like forever for the Canadian government to deal with their application, I would be extremely annoyed if H+M were given special, fast-track treatment.

I know it will probably happen. But it shouldn't.

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by Princess

It would have been so easy to step back by officially announcing that the BRF needs to be slimmed down. Everything could have been worked out and everybody would have been happy for Harry as everyone knows he always struggeld with his role.

Why on earth did they choose this way? It's a mystery to me.

Issue is the BRF does not need to slim down. Henry and Meghan are needed for at least another 20+ years if they wanted to maintain the same level of engagements the royal family does now.

[_Heather_]

Originally Posted by Helen.CH

I cannot see this. Death is the risk if life, and in any other family with elderly some will not be able to stick with them any time left, that is a normal process. society is far away from what is was or could be. any working commoner can't spend days or weeks with their grandparents so why should Harry feel obliged to?
And the elderly still have themselves and in case of HM a job to do, so why should she choose to spend hr free time with exactly one, Harry, grandson-absurd idea.

I'm not sure that anyone was implying that Harry should stick to the Duke like glue for whatever time he may have left, which, let's face it, could still be years. We aren't privy to his medical information. But at 98 it's inevitable that at some point within the next, roughly five years more or less, he will no longer be around. That's just simply a fact. I think what people are saying is that at 98 nothing is guaranteed and that it would be a shame if the last interactions between Harry and his grandfather revolved around all of this nonsense with hurt feelings, anger, annoyance, disappointment, and stubbornness controlling the interaction. I can only speak for myself but I don't expect Harry to spend every moment of his time at his grandfather's side from now until he's gone simply because that isn't healthy or realistic. What is realistic is to hope that he's able to visit with his grandfather and spend some time with him both on his own and with Archie in order to create some good memories and some positive times rather than being left with that awful feeling of regret when the time is up.

[Betsypaige]

Originally Posted by Helen.CH

I cannot see this. Death is the risk if life, and in any other family with elderly some will not be able to stick with them any time left, that is a normal process. society is far away from what is was or could be. any working commoner can't spend days or weeks with their grandparents so why should Harry feel obliged to?
And the elderly still have themselves and in case of HM a job to do, so why should she choose to spend hr free time with exactly one, Harry, grandson-absurd idea.

I'm not saying he should devote all his time to his family, but skipping out on, say, Christmas as Sandringham, is not a good thing. I said "as much as possible", NOT ALL their time.

Thanks for not understanding my point and calling it absurd

I'm not sure that anyone was implying that Harry should stick to the Duke like glue for whatever time he may have left, which, let's face it, could still be years. We aren't privy to his medical information. But at 98 it's inevitable that at some point within the next, roughly five years more or less, he will no longer be around. That's just simply a fact. I think what people are saying is that at 98 nothing is guaranteed and that it would be a shame if the last interactions between Harry and his grandfather revolved around all of this nonsense with hurt feelings, anger, annoyance, disappointment, and stubbornness controlling the interaction. I can only speak for myself but I don't expect Harry to spend every moment of his time at his grandfather's side from now until he's gone simply because that isn't healthy or realistic. What is realistic is to hope that he's able to visit with his grandfather and spend some time with him both on his own and with Archie in order to create some good memories and some positive times rather than being left with that awful feeling of regret when the time is up.

YES, that's exactly what I meant.....

[Princess]

Lumutqueen, thanks. Regarding that point of view...
Maye I should not compare with other monarchies.

[Sionevar]

Originally Posted by Mbruno

They do not need permission "to visit", but visiting is very different from being a permanent resident. Could a "permanent visitor" work for example or run a business ? Maybe Canada is just an interim solution after all as the statement may suggest.

A visitor is basically a tourist. You can stay in the country for up to 6 months, but you cannot engage in any activity that requires legal residence e.g. work, open a bank account, register to receive Canadian health care.

It would be doable, but tricky - lots of restrictions to work around or to have a backup plan for.

[yvr girl]

Originally Posted by Sionevar

I have no problem if Harry and Meghan want to come live in Canada - all I ask is that they follow the proper procedure. No special treatment, no queue jumping, and if they apply for Permanent Residence, they must meet the points requirement.

For ordinary people, it is a long and tedious process to obtain Canadian permanent residence or citizenship. It used to be relatively quick, but I understand the process has bogged down due to budget cuts and volume, and now takes several years.

As someone who has gone through both the PR and citizenship processes, and who had to wait for what felt like forever for the Canadian government to deal with their application, I would be extremely annoyed if H+M were given special, fast-track treatment.

I know it will probably happen. But it shouldn't.

That's an interesting perspective. I personally don't care if they get a fast-tracked status in Canada. Security issues aside they won't be a drain on Canada. They won't be taking anyone's job etc. I'm a citizen from birth. I know Canada needs immigrants. I never thought about it from the perspective of someone who worked hard to obtain Canadian status.

[Purrs]

Originally Posted by marlene

I would be shocked if Trudeau actually said that Canada would pick up the tab for their security. It would never fly with Canadians, not in a billion, million ,trazillion years would they happily accept it.

The press here in Canada are NOT saying this. They are reporting that who pays for the security is still undecided.from Toronto star:

"The question of who foots the bill for their security detail may also come up. On their website, Harry and Meghan note that the provision of armed security is mandated by the British Home Office. But if the couple spends much of their time overseas, British taxpayers may balk at paying for their security.

So-called working royals representing the queen full-time at ceremonies and charities get their protection paid for by the state. But junior royals, such as Prince Andrew’s daughter, Beatrice and Eugenie, pay their own way."

BTW our press are mostly focused on the aircraft that was shot down in Iran, the families of the Canadians killed and our request for compensation to the families from Iran.

[QueenMathilde]

Originally Posted by Fijiro

This is a good article to read.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article...ybrkr=7992c02e

Not really - Buzzfeed knows nothing about the royals and only started following them (and barely at that) when Meghan showed up. You could fit what they know about the royals in a thimble. There were countless headlines about "Waity Kaity", her mother the "Trolly Dolly", her drunk Uncle Gary and how much money Kate was spending before Meghan showed up. They ran pictures of her skirt blowing up in the wind and private pictures of her bathing topless on vacation in France. Meghan should have gone to her about the negative coverage if she wanted sympathy. Or to Andrew's daughters - they called them Cinderella's ugly steps sisters and went on for weeks about the hat Beatrice wore to William's wedding. They gave their own tearful interview about how mean the media was to them. And there were equally negative headlines about the "love of Harry's life" Chelsy Davy. See the people saying "poor Meghan" only recently showed up and didn't see the negative coverage of everyone else in the royal family. I'd say Camilla has gotten the worse coverage - like I said earlier they threw bread rolls at her in the grocery store and played private phone conversations of Charles saying he wanted to be Camilla's tampon. They treat Meghan with kid gloves by comparison. No what Buzzfeed and her supporters wanted was NO negative coverage of Meghan. Not even the queen herself gets that.


I'd also say she's going to get worse coverage without the bubble wrap protection of Buckingham Palace. If she was looking for good media coverage she should have skipped marrying a member of the royal family and married a nice Silicon Valley billionaire. Diana got horrible coverage before she died.

[Purrs]

Originally Posted by yvr girl

That's an interesting perspective. I personally don't care if they get a fast-tracked status in Canada. Security issues aside they won't be a drain on Canada. They won't be taking anyone's job etc. I'm a citizen from birth. I know Canada needs immigrants. I never thought about it from the perspective of someone who worked hard to obtain Canadian status.

I agree with the poster you are replying to. I do care & I'd object. Although I'm a Canadian citizen who was born and raised here, I have 2 family members who were both immigrants (one parent and my son-in-law). In particular my son-in-law and daughter worked darn hard (she applied as his spousal sponsor) to get his permanent residency status and were in limbo over 3 years waiting for approval of her application on his behalf. During that waiting period, he could not work legally or use public healthcare. My daughter's member of parliament told her that of 90% of his requests for assistance from constitutents were related to immigration.

IMO, most Canadians who were born here don't know how difficult and the process involved to acquire permanent residency status. Unless we've seen it through people we know, we tend to take our immigration process for granted and don't realize how stringent it and time consuming it is. They also take citizenship for granted. (Although as I've pointed out you don't need Canadian citizenship to legally live here permanently although it gives you a few more rights than permanent residents.)

In Toronto (the largest city) now, the majority of residents were not born in Canada. (over 50% now). Vancouver also has a very high proportion of residents not born in Canada. Many people in Canada are immigrants themselves or have family members were were and therefore it would go over very poorly on any government who gave the Sussexes special treatment.